1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the cooling of electronic apparatus. More specifically, the present invention presents a cooling system for a rack mounted audio amplifier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Oftentimes, a limiting factor in the design of electronic equipment such as audio amplifiers, is heat dissipation. With the advent of new and more sophisticated electronic components, the heat generated in the apparatus, if not properly dissipated, can often be so great as to degrade apparatus performance.
The need for greater heat dissipation is balanced by the sensitivity of sophisticated electronic components to contamination by dust or other particulate matter, which can often be borne in the air passed through the apparatus for cooling purposes. Moreover, in an application such as an audio amplifier, noise generation by the cooling system must, of necessity, be kept to a minimum or eliminated entirely.
Traditionally, audio amplifiers have been cooled by the use of a fan drawing air into the amplifier housing through openings in the housing. The air then flows freely throughout the interior of the housing and exits through an outlet in the housing. More recently, partially enclosed cooling system designs, have been suggested. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,603 to Chawa et al., a forced air cooling tunnel having a plurality of fans drawing air through the tunnel is illustrated. In a similar vein is a device sold by Peavey Electronics as its “Turbo/V Cooling” which utilizes a partially closed tunnel, partially defined by a pair of diverging heat sinks. And, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,798 to Perkins et al., a passive radiator-cooled electronic heat sink housing for a powered speaker is described.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,188, Rochel et al. disclose a pair of heat sinks, each formed as first and second tunnels connected by a Peltier device toward one end of the tunnels. One of the heat sinks abuts electronic components and passes heat to be dissipated into the interior tunnel where air flow carries the heated air to the second tunnel from which it is exhausted.
Nothing in the art, however, provides an audio amplifier cooling system which is capable of maximizing heat dissipation by heat sinks while still isolating the interior of an amplifier from air borne particulates and noise. Accordingly, there is a continuing need in the art for an improved cooling system for an audio amplifier.